Auditor General ANNA CHIFUNGULA has called on government to start prosecuting officers who misappropriate government funds.
Ms. CHIFUNGULA has regretted that action is not taken on culprits cited in the Auditor Generals reports.
She is hopeful that the trend will change under the new government.
The Auditor General’s report for Parastatal bodies for 2009 has revealed glaring irregularities.
The irregularities cited include unretired imprest amounting to K1.4 Billion,K14 Billion of unsupported payments and irregular payments totaling K4 Billion.
The parastatal bodies that have been found wanting include ZESCO, Road Traffic and Safety Agency and the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission -CEEC.
Others are ZSIC, Judiciary headquarters, State Lotteries Board and NATSAVE.
Meanwhile the Zambia National Building Society could have incurred a loss of K15billion through the sale of its housing units, if the Auditor General’s Office had not intervened.
Auditor General ANNA CHIFUNGULA said her office took action to stop the transaction upon receiving information from a whistle blower.
Ms. CHIFUNGULA said the ZNBS Board had proposed to sale the houses which it reverted from institutional to pool at a 70% discount.
This is contrary to the government sale of pool housing hand book which stipulates that 30% be slapped on sale of parastal houses.
Ms. CHIFUNGULA who appeared before the MWILA LUMBWE led commission of inquiry into operations of ZNBS said that the said Houses were not listed for sale by Former President RUPIAH BANDA.
And Mr. LUMBWE praised the Auditor General for preventing the transaction from going ahead by dispatching auditors to audit the institution.
And Caritas Zambia says the Auditor General’s reports should NOT be a mere exercise where action is not taken.
Caritas Zambia Director SAM MULAFULAFU says all people named in the Auditor General’s reports should be queried.
He has told ZNBC News in an interview that there is need for a deliberate measure to ensure that anybody cited in the Auditor General’s report is made to account for the irregularities highlighted
[ZNBC]
Good evening
The Auditor General’s office has done it’s work. Now it’s up to the Law enforcement authorities to do the rest. That’s the way professionalism goes.
Nevertheless, you will still have some wise souls around here talking about witch-hunting, tribalism, retribution, yada yada yada…
Why is she crying?
Lets start prosecutions on a clean slate, starting with the 2012 report. Â
Why 2012? If anyone stole even in 2010, that’s still a crime and that person needs to face the law.
The Auditor General report should be transparent enough to name Ministers and deputies,Permanent secretaries,Chairmen of boards, CEOs, Directors and individuals who fail to account for monies, involved in frauds and abuse of offices. We need boldness in what we intend to be accoutable to ourselves. Not hiding in Company names and titles as is being reported. Some of these individuals aspire for higher offices when they come with baggage of wrong doing. When the president appoints them opposition is loud. Who causes this embarassment inability of Auditors report to be definitive with their findings. If investigative wings fail to prosecute, the public will be aware who is failing govt. Reports need to do more beyond naming alarming figures with inclusion of culprits names.
#3 ZAMBIAN, UMULANDU TAUBOLA. ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT BURRIED MONEY STARTING FROM 2009 SHOULD JUST GO DOWN THE DRAIN? PF SHOULD SET A CLEAR EXAMPLE WHICH SHOULD BECOME A LEGACY OF THE PF GOVERNMENT. PF GOVERNMENT MUST PROSECUTE EVERY JIM AND JACK MENTIONED IN THE REPORT. WE CAN’T BE STARTING AFRESH ALL THE TIME.
@Nine Chale. Ati yada yada yada aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Wandepula we!
Yes she actually said Nevers has not been cleared yet the Pastor was busy exonerating himself.
Yazanda nomba!
why does she look like she is taking a crap and it has broken in half on way to toilet water leavn half piece stuck requirin alot of toiletpaper. ihate when tha hpens
We release this report every year and yet nothing is done to reconcile abnormalities or arrest those stealing or abusing public resources. So far it is just a waste of time and a futile exercise.
Well, I have a feeling the party is over – there is someone out there who is allergic to corruption and takes no prisoners; not even his children are spared.
A few people should spend christmas in jail as a warning to those who think they can mess around with public resources. Top of the list are Nevers Mumba, Musokotwane and Ala Bee
Dont discourage her she is doing a good job, she must be supported by all zambians we want money back. to help develope zambia, poor zambians need alot ,medicines in hosipitals and alot more
Lelo Nevers, lelo lelo, lelo kalendele,ine nshaliko, nalikumabala nabamayo.
Yazanda Nevers yazanda!
# 6 Italian Bunga Bunga (Original), Confirm this latest hullabaloo news. That Zambia Police have droped all charges with ( ZRA, NAPSA, BOZ, FNB, ZAST and GRZ) involving K billions against Mutembo Nchito to pave way for his appointment as DPP in PF govt. Yes! allegy to corruption.
The Auditor General appears as if she is crying because she is scared that she herself might be audited. By the way who audits the Auditor General?
In zambia you can steal public funds and still walk away with a case. What kind of a country is this? And do we expect Zambia to develop fast with this disturbing reports of money stealing and money mismanagement?
@11
The police do not have powers to drop charges which are in courts. Only DPP can drop such cases. For some one to say the police….. then that one should be corrected.
Auditor general needs to be told that “ichinso ngachalitikama pls no complicated hairstyles”
The picture has put me off the story no appetite to read..
@13
The Zambian law is for the poor. Consider how cases take ages in their courts. In other countries including America, when some one is jailed and appeal, that person has to be in jail awaiting for his appeal to be head. Pa zed an appeal means you go home. The judicial system is crewed up starting from the chief justice down to the police officer.
MANJE MAYO MULELILA?
Ba Nine Chale, you are a flip flopper, muselela kwa kaba. Most of you on this blog are the same, this AG should also be fired and start afresh. Ba kateka should have his own new trusted team, she wants her job that’s why she is yapping. Its not her place to say, they should be prosecuted.
Don’t use this to target political opponent. everyone who has been in government since 1991 is a thief, including Sata himself. I am not trying to be cynical, it is just the truth. Remember how Paul Tembo was assassinated when he wanted to name Sata in connection with the disappearance of hundreds of billions of kwacha? Remember the Merzaf flats in Chilenje? Why do people pretend, people in Zambia seek public office to go and steal, period.
That is only 2009 what about from 1991 up to now??trilions gone . A job well done go and dig now.
This is the fear of many Zambians that the Auditor General ANNA CHIFUNGULA has now ended up being influenced by the EVIL Roman CATHOLIC Organisation through its controlled organisation called CARITAS Zambia and its Director SAM MULAFULAFU.
Though CARITAS Zambia has done a good job on educating Zambians on their Human Rights, this is not fair as CARITAS is working in TANDEM with the Auditor General ANNA CHIFUNGULA to PERSECUTE and HARASS Nevers Mumba who is a POLITICAL opponent to Sata!
Is the Auditor General ANNA CHIFUNGULA a member of the Roman Catholic Organisation like Lameck Mangani of Chipata who joined Sata on a Roman Catholic platform?
THE question is;
Why is Sata and the Zambia Police not naming nor charging people from ZESCO, ZRA, CEEC and ONLY Nevers Mumba?
Does that mean the only foreign mission where money has been misappropriated is CANADA where Nevers Mumba was?
This is raising a lot of questions now? Where are the other foreign Mission where the Auditor General TRAVELED recently to AUDIT their accounts?
Apart from sending her AUDITORS to Canada to audit Nevers Mumba, has the Auditor General send Zambian account forensic EXPERTS to all other foreign MISSIONS to audit their accounts at the same time as they did to Canada?
If She just sent HER Auditor to Canada ONLY to AUDIT Nevers Mumba’s work in CANADA, THEN The auditor General is working under order of Sata and his PF govt to to HARASS Nevers Mumba.
And you don’t call this being independent of Sata!
No Zambians is hearing Sata talking about other MISSIONS!
Shame!
Money may have been misappropriated in Canada, but this is being used for political mudslinging. Where is this president’s agenda? I am worried that through dolorous blindness, this country is being driven backwards by one of the most incompetent presidency. I am not surprised that the Post newspaper, which has become at extension of State House public relations wing, is working at pains to explain things that are difficult to rationalize. By taking a minibus, according to the Post, Sata is saving public money! What about the money he is eager to waste on by elections after bribing opposition MPs? This is someone who has a lot of things to hide!
There will be selective prosecutions because I suspect that there are a lot of people who stole govt money and channelled some of it to PF campaigns.
I will be very surprised if Mumba gets prosecuted in the end. The PF govt is not that smart… The attorney general and dpp are not in their offices on merit, they were just appointed for coming from together… It’s shocking that you guys can expect that the same chap who acquitted chiluba and his wife would now convict Mumba on a flimsy case like this one. I’m even more surprised that in all their biased reporting the POST have ignored that fact, except if it ws another president doing it then they wuld conviniently remember it. The trouble is chiluba’s case is now a citable precedent. Technically, you can steal and get away with it. There is nothing Sata is going to do. He will only convict those he targets politically because then he just directs the courts, like Banda did.
The Auditor General’s office has done their job I am calling upon all the Zambian NGO’s to sue these Govt Departments on behalf of the Zambian people so we can see justice on behalf of the People of Zambia:-\”
It seems there is glaring evident of those who have misappropriated funds interestingly enough even the judiciary.so lets see the police call those people for questioning.Instead Police are busy calling those they perceive are a threat to Sata in 2016.
The National Housing Authority can not be squeeky clean from what we know and hear. There is no mention of it in the report, why? King Cobra has said there will be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption, why does NHA seem to be out bounds in the crusade????? Should the silence be confirmation of the “affair” we know in the line of authority? Take the blanket off!!
Why is she crying?
You take the auditor’s report to the court as evidence for stealing and the judge will just laugh at you
BRAVEST OF ALL WOMEN, SHE NEEDS POLITICAL SUPPORT… ARREST THEM.. NOTHING LIKE RETRIBUTION ARREST ARREST ARREST ARREST…..
And who audits the the auditor generals office. Are they still abusing funds in the unnecessary hotel lodges….???? they spend to much money in lusaka in lodges and yet they stay in lusaka…..
Nevers Mumba has a big mouth; how do you say you were cleared when you weren’t? Nowonder he was fired by Mwanawasa (M.H.R.P). Ms. Chifungula isn’t being influenced by anyone; look at what happened to George Chulumanda; was he arrested? Kaya! Anyways Nevers isn’t special.
Cant we just have a law which stipulates that anyone cited in the AG report for malpractice should be prosecuted? That will not only give tooth to the AG’s office but also avoid the dependance on the Government of the day for any action to be taken. The AG’s office almost went dead in the RB 3 years and looks like its only waking up now !
i have a problem with these revelations.the ZNBS sold the houses at a discount of 70% which the AG claims to be irregular however,the govt hand book says that houses should be sold at 30%.now 100%-70%=30%.so what is irregular about such a transaction.further,the AG said the properties were last valued in 2009.according to valuers,valuation reports are valid for a period of 3years therefore the reports were still valid in 2011.Did she consider that the cost of valuation if properties were to be valued yearly and infact property values do not change daily unless there is an improvement to the property.I now begin to question these reports the AG is alarming the nation we need a professional in that office not a tired person
Good show chifungula.
Very good suggestion. Â The fact that the AG’s office has no statutory power to proceed with litigation is what makes erring officials play around with audits from her office with kid gloves. Â Once this is followed on with litigation resulting initially from exculpatory efforts we will see some discipline from our civil servants. Â Then again, we need to learn from the current troubles in Europe where civil servants were let to run like free range chickens until the system collapsed on top of them… Let’s try to be proactive before that kind of crisis catches us realtime!
#35, u have very gud points…. y are the AG’s report oways negative? has anyone bothered to look at the competencies of her team? these reports are alarming but we need to question wether these audits are done proffesionally or fueled by rumours…….. she might be competent herself but she just signs and her team is the one which does the audits…. secondly how sure r we that those “clean” parastatals are actually clean? these auditors are paid poorly and they may be induced by some organisations…..
@ Retired thief. Have u really really checked your accounts properly. At 70% discount means Actual price-70%*Actual price, same goes for 30% discount.I think you got confused by removing the word discount from 30%. For 30% the actual sale price will be pegged at 70% of the total and 70% discount, the actual sale price will be 30% of the total.I also do not agree with you on property valuation because the market demand dictates all that.Nobody would be ignorant enough to be sold a house at a high price in recession times. Retired thief I hope have simplified everything for you.
‘Ms. CHIFUNGULA who appeared before the MWILA LUMBWE led commission of inquiry into operations of ZNBS said that the said Houses were not listed for sale by Former President RUPIAH BANDA.’ Was the statement correct,i thought i read earlier in the media that rupiah ordered the sale……………i want to see the report and the dates on it,this is interesting,i like my auditor general and am waiting for the mouth watering report
@Kaya please take time to read the report these chaps dont know what they are talking about thats why we complain that there is no action taken on these reports.they lack substance and quality.the parastatal discounted by 70% meaning they were still within the requirements of the law as they did not go below the 30% threshold set.With regards to valuation the reports are valid for 3years and the AG says 2yrs is a long time what law is she using to arive at that.moreover prices have not flactuated that in the past one month.It is because of such reports that the real criminals are let free.actually those auditors got money to do shoddy work they must be retrenched or sent for audit training.they are exposing the old lady.
#11, the problem with Zambia is that people are charged just to inconvenience them even though the police have no evidence. They first slap charges on someone and then start looking for eveidence afterwards. Rupiah announced a big investigation into The Post and the Nchito brothers but nothing came of it. It was all designed to silence The Post and harrass the Nchitos.
Audits dont happen in a vacuum.
Somebody is sitting on those audit reports. They should be identified and asked why they are not taking action on the AG’s findings. Most likely its for political reasons.
You have a broken governance system in Zambia.
If anyone understands why very few individuals are brought to book after being cited in the AG’s report, they would tell you that most of the cases reported do not actually mean funds were embezzled but mostly it is misapplication (e.g. funds meant cleaning a house used to buy fuel for road maintenance) or people did not follow the right procedure when acquiring services or materials. There is need to have the AG’s office reformed to avoid giving a very negative picture which does not really exist.
I would be a very happy Zambian if whatever PF caders stole from MMD,UPND etc under ‘Don’t kubeba’ corrupt slogan return the things to government.How can SATA be allergic to corruption when his caders are still keeping stolen things-bicycles,vigayo,vitenge etc.Ba CARITAs mulipo.Stand up for Zambia.
You want to see how corrupt this government is? ******. The Post newspaper has positioned itself as a newspaper that can blackmail, arm-twist and get a ransom. It is not difficult to see when Mmembe has received his ransom. His newspaper, which is not even profitable, flaunts expensive cars. This goes in tandem with positive coverage. He did that under Mwanawasa when he received a ton of money that the government never covered. He is doing the same right now. In this editorial he is pleading for Zambians to be patient with Sata. He never did that with Chiluba. He attacked Mwanawasa right from day one until the man doled out bribes and started receiving favorable coverage. *************
I would like to see the AG’a office audited as well, as was done in 2010 and things brought out of how they misappropriate money and get hefty allowances even for auditing close ministries on a daily basis yet they cite ministries when that happens. We need their place audited and the report brought out and parliament should also take her to task